Bill Text: NY S06276 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Requires the department of corrections and community supervision to provide telephone services to individuals within the custody of the department in correctional facilities at no cost to the individuals or the receiving parties for domestic telephone calls.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CRIME VICTIMS, CRIME AND CORRECTION [S06276 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S06276-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6276

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 31, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims,  Crime  and
          Correction

        AN  ACT  to amend the correction law, in relation to providing telephone
          service to inmates at no cost

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Subdivisions  1, 2 and 3 of section 623 of the correction
     2  law, as added by chapter 240 of the laws of 2007, are amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    1. Telephone services contracts  for  inmates  in  state  correctional
     5  facilities  shall  be subject to the procurement provisions as set forth
     6  in article eleven of the state finance law [provided, however, that when
     7  determining the best value of such telephone service, the lowest  possi-
     8  ble cost to the telephone user shall be emphasized].
     9    2. The department shall [make available either a "prepaid" or "collect
    10  call" system, or a combination thereof, for telephone service. Under the
    11  "prepaid" system, funds may be deposited into an account in order to pay
    12  for  station-to-station calls, provided that nothing in this subdivision
    13  shall require the department to provide or administer a prepaid  system.
    14  Under  a  "collect call" system, call recipients are billed for the cost
    15  of an accepted  telephone  call  initiated  by  an  inmate.  Under  such
    16  "collect  call"  system, the provider of inmate telephone service, as an
    17  additional means of payment, must permit the recipient of  inmate  calls
    18  to  establish an account with such provider in order to deposit funds to
    19  pay for such collect calls in advance]  provide  telephone  services  to
    20  individuals within the custody of the department in correctional facili-
    21  ties at no cost to the individuals or the receiving parties for domestic
    22  telephone calls.
    23    3.  The  department  shall not accept or receive revenue [in excess of
    24  its reasonable operating cost] for establishing and  administering  such

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11453-01-9

        S. 6276                             2

     1  telephone  system  services  as  provided in subdivisions one and two of
     2  this section.
     3    §  2.  This act shall take effect April 1, 2020 and shall apply to any
     4  new or renewal contract for inmate telephone services entered into on or
     5  after such date and provided further that any new  or  renewal  contract
     6  for  inmate telephone services entered into prior to April 1, 2020 shall
     7  not run past March 31, 2020.
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